(Image: Stephen Bear, reproduced with permission)
Mirror art and other reflective installations and sculptures come in all manner of creative forms. Turning our world upside down, creating strange optical phenomena and challenging our spacial awareness, such installations draw us in and encourage us to interact with the artwork and the broader environment. Here we take a look at three examples of mirror art that bring the sky to earth, multiply surroundings and reveal hidden doorways through which to explore.
Sky Mirror by Anish Kapoor
(Images: Superhasn, public domain; Brad Patrick; Gaius Cornelius; cc-sa-3.0)
First commissioned by the Nottingham Playhouse, Sky Mirror was unveiled in 2001. The most expensive civic art installation funded by the National Lottery at the time, the concave stainless steel sculpture, manufactured in Finland, cost £900,000. In 2006 a larger 23 ton Sky Mirror appeared at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Reflecting the inverted skyscrapers, the sculpture brought “the sky down to the ground”, said artist Anish Kapoor. Versions can also be seen in St. Petersburg, Russia and Kensington Gardens, London. The latter controversially cost UK taxpayers £120,000 to cover 24-hour security for six months.
Follow Me by Jeppe Hein
(Image: Stephen Bear, reproduced with permission)
Located in the grounds of Royal Fort House at the University of Bristol, this mesmerising public art installation by Danish artist Jeppe Hein comprises a square labyrinth of 76 vertical polished steel plates. Hein’s inspiration for the sculpture, known as “Follow Me”, was drawn from the historic gardens designed by Sir Humphry Repton, and the university’s role as a place of self-discovery.
(Image: Stephen Bear, reproduced with permission)
Bristol University issued a press release stating: “Visitors will be encouraged to enter the labyrinth to experience the effect of the work. Once inside, the reflections of participants and surrounding plants and trees are multiplied.”
Mirror Lab 2.1 by VAV Architects
(Images: Miquel Merce, via VAV Architects, reproduced with permission)
Walking towards the passageway that connects one side of the Bridge de Sant Roc in Olot, Spain, to the other, you’ll soon discover that the world you see before you is remarkably similar to where you’ve just been! That’s thanks to a mirrored doorway by VAV Architects.
(Images: Miquel Merce, via VAV Architects, reproduced with permission)
WebUrbanist writes: “The reflective surface gives the illusion that there is nothing new beyond the passageway; there is no hidden world waiting to be discovered, only one that looks remarkably similar to where you’ve just been. The gate pivots on a central pole, allowing explorers to push past it and go on to explore what is really on the other side of the bridge.”
